UCLA expects Arizona's best effort

ESPN College Gameday is in town, prompting students to camp out in line Friday - donning swimsuits to enjoy an 80-degree afternoon.

Tickets are already sold out, with secondary sales starting at $80.

As for the team? UCLA is still in control of its own destiny, its 6 p.m. tipoff today against No. 11 Arizona signaling a chance to move back into the Pac-12 lead.

Beat the Wildcats, and the Bruins will tie Oregon for the conference's best in-league record.

The task won't be easy, even if Arizona has struggled lately, particularly on defense. Coach Sean Miller has tinkered with his lineup, moving backup Kevin Parrom into the starting lineup and using 6-foot-7 Solomon Hill at power forward more often.

"It's a harder matchup," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "He's really a three (small forward), but he can guard a four. You can't really take advantage of him at the other end of the floor, but it's hard for bigger guys to stay in front of him."

Howland also stressed the Wildcats, coming off an 89-78 upset loss at USC, will be eager to prove themselves again. He said that sort of motivation had helped the Bruins (21-7, 11-4) in their own win at Arizona a month ago - one that followed a nine-point home loss to Oregon.

"We gotta get ready for that," freshman Shabazz Muhammad said. "We're going to take it a game at a time, playing Arizona. They lost to SC and they're going to give us 110 percent. We're really looking forward to it."

Reinforcements may help too. UCLA forward Travis Wear is probable to play against the Wildcats (23-5, 11-5) after missing the past two games with a sprained ligament in his right foot. The 6-foot-10 junior is the team's third-leading scorer (11.6 points) and second-leading rebounder (5.4), and had sustained a concussion in his last meeting with the Wildcats.

If Wear is ready to play, Howland said he will start the game. The coach doesn't want to risk Wear having his foot tighten up should he sit too long on the bench after warm-ups.

Muhammad sprained his ankle in the first half of Wednesday night's win over Arizona State, but participated in Friday's walkthrough and will play against the Wildcats.